The California moms combating for a condo in a plague – characterize essay

February 18, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated a more or much less homelessness that is in most cases invisible – contributors and families residing in their cars, hotels, crowded shelters, and even doubled up with relatives or chums.

It’s a ways a actuality faced by hundreds of thousands of folks all the contrivance in which via The United States, but especially acutely in California, which has the nation’s finest homeless population.

In the interim there are 151,000 folks residing in shelters or outdoors within the insist, in accordance with recordsdata from the US housing department. But this establish doesn’t encompass folks staying rapidly with family or chums, or in transitional shelters, and is kind of no doubt an underestimate.

Cherokeena and Priscilla are two of those folks. At some stage within the pandemic, I shadowed the lives of those moms and their young folks as they fought to search out and relief their housing and defend off the streets.

Cherokeena and Priscilla both rely on a program known as Household Promise, one of rather a lot of in California that wait on families experiencing homelessness and low-earnings families cease independence by providing resources equivalent to transitional shelters, daycare, money vouchers, clothing, food and trauma-told care.

And whereas programs equivalent to Household Promise wait on as a critical lifeline, the pandemic has exposed how precarious the safety win is for such families, and the contrivance in which the inequities baked into the housing map have only persisted to widen. On the close of 2020, 19 million American citizens were inclined to shedding their properties to an eviction. A moratorium on evictions has been in space in California since March, but its eventual expiration could have devastating consequences for those already residing on the brink.

Cherokeena and Priscilla’s reviews offer a peep into the actuality many Californians are coping with, and the resilience and resolution it takes to be a single mother elevating a baby, discovering a job and securing housing at some level of a plague.

•••

Cherokeena Robinson

Cherokeena left an abusive relationship with the father of her son in 2016, transferring out on her delight in alongside with her son, Mai’Kel. She worked as a preschool teacher, but paying the funds and rent on a single earnings proved now not potential. After three failed attempts at residing with family and chums members, she at last known as 211 – a free useful resource for community companies and products – to earn recordsdata about real looking housing. That is how she stumbled on this map, Household Promise, which changed into near the college the build aside she taught.

Cherokeena Robinson braids her son Mai’Kel’s hair in the morning in their room at their transitional house in San Pedro, California that they share with one or two other families at a time. Cherokeena lost her job during the pandemic and now relies on the organization Family Promise to help with housing, childcare, food, and counseling. Cherokeena and her son have been living in the transitional house since June 2020 where she pays $300 a month for rent for a private room until she can figure out her job and find a full private apartment of her own.

Cherokeena works with Mai’Kel on his distance-learning first grade homework in their private room in the transitional house that the organization Family Promise helped them find.

Cherokeena Robinson, 32, makes her son Mai’Kel Stephens, 6, lunch at their transitional house in San Pedro, California that they share with one or two other families at a time. Cherokeena lost her job during the pandemic and now relies on the organization Family Promise to help with housing, childcare, food, and counseling. Cherokeena and her son have been living in the transitional house since June 2020 where she pays $300 a month for rent for a private room until she can figure out her job and find a full private apartment of her own.

High: Cherokeena Robinson braids her son Mai’Kel’s hair within the morning
Heart: Cherokeena works with Mai’Kel on his distance-discovering out first grade homework in their non-public room within the transitional condo that Household Promise helped them derive.
Bottom: Cherokeena makes Mai’Kel lunch.

Household Promise’s mission is to wait on homeless and low-earnings families cease sustainable independence via a community-based mostly entirely response. This map changed into in a location to present her with a non-public room in a transitional refuge. But once the pandemic hit, Cherokeena’s college couldn’t have the funds for to relief her on their workers and let her proceed, even although she had worked there for four years.

Without the earnings to pay for childcare, she relied carefully on her sister and Household Promise for give a enhance to. At some stage within the day Cherokeena changed into in a location to drop off her son at the Household Promise heart, the build aside he bought give a enhance to with his schoolwork whereas she looked for a brand new job.

Cherokeena walks Mai’Kel into the Family Promise center for the day so she can go to a job interview.

Cherokeena helps Mai’Kel get started with his distance learning homework at the Family Promise center so she can go to a job interview.

High: Cherokeena walks Mai’Kel into the Household Promise heart for the day so she can proceed to a job interview.
Bottom: Cherokeena helps Mai’Kel originate with his homework.

On 7 October 2020, Cherokeena started a brand new job as a preschool teacher, and is now working fat-time at Carden Dominion college in Redondo Seaside, California. Cherokeena and Mai’Kel have spent the last eight months residing in transitional housing the build aside Cherokeena pays $300 a month to rent a non-public room. She is now taking a learn about (and getting wait on) for eternal low-earnings housing so she and Mai’Kel can have their delight in residing condo.

Cherokeena Robinson, 32, and her sister Lina Robinson, 34, meet at the park in Torrance, California almost every day to let their kids play together.

Cherokeena Robinson, 32, lays in bed with her son Mai’Kel Stephens, 6, at their transitional house in San Pedro, California that they share with one or two other families at a time. Cherokeena lost her teaching job during the pandemic and now relies on the organization Family Promise to help with housing, childcare, food, and counseling. Cherokeena and her son have been living in the transitional house since June 2020 where she pays $300 a month for rent for a private room until she can figure out her job and find a full private apartment of her own. — Photograph: Rachel Bujalski

High: Cherokeena and her sister Lina Robinson, 34, meet at the park in Torrance, California, nearly each day to let their young folks play collectively.
Bottom: Cherokeena, 32, lies in bed alongside with her son Mai’Kel, six, at their transitional condo in San Pedro, California, which they fraction with one or two other families at a time.

•••

Priscilla and Sierra

In 2014, Priscilla and her daughter Sierra moved to California from Illinois to wait on like Priscilla’s mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease. They moved in with Priscilla’s brother and his family but things didn’t proceed as planned. Household tensions began to make, and at last Priscilla’s brother asked them to proceed away. They had nowhere to proceed.

For five years they slept any space they’d well – on the streets, transferring from behind constructions to bushes to bus stops and alleys, wherever they’d well live a ways off from being separated. Sierra would repeat her mother that “the total thing goes to be all perfect mother, right here is kinda like tenting.”

Priscilla changed into unable to search out work at some level of this time due to the she feared leaving her daughter on my own with out a stable refuge. She felt like she had failed her daughter.

Sierra helps her mom with work she needs to get done after her job switched to online during the pandemic. Orange County, California.

Sierra and Priscilla leave the grocery store. Orange County, California. July, 2020.

Sierra sits in their car parked outside their apartment in County, California. Sierra and Priscilla lived in their car for a short period of time before they were able to find help from Family Promise and live in their emergency shelter.

High: Sierra helps her mother with work she wants to earn performed after her job switched online at some level of the pandemic.
Heart: Sierra and Priscilla leave the grocery retailer.
Bottom: Sierra sits in their car parked outside their dwelling in Orange county, California. Sierra and Priscilla lived in their car for a short time-frame sooner than they were in a location to search out wait on from Household Promise.

In 2016, Sierra started high college whereas residing with out a condo. She faced each day challenges, from discovering food and refuge, to searching for to orderly up and in actuality feel comparable old. By June of 2017, Priscilla and Sierra were interviewed and authorized into HIS Dwelling, a transitional refuge program that supplied them with stable refuge and supportive companies and products, the build aside they stayed for a Three hundred and sixty five days. After this map ended they lived in their car till they were authorized into Household Promise’s emergency refuge program, which gave them housing in a church, then later in transitional housing with two or three other families.

After at last discovering a job at the Boys and Ladies Membership, Priscilla bought on a waitlist at an dwelling advanced and changed into at last authorized. In September 2019, they were in a location to stable their delight in dwelling with wait on from Household Promise. To relief on to their dwelling every month, Priscilla wants wait on from her daughter with rent and funds. Sierra works at Massive Plenty, a slice price dwelling items retailer, and most days she helps her mother with chores all the contrivance in which via the condo. She additionally helps her mother alongside with her laptop work for the Boys and Ladies Membership.

Priscilla prepares the ‘take-home packets’ at The Boys and Girls Club office for the kids to bring home for their online sessions she teaches from her apartment.

High: Priscilla prepares the ‘maintain-dwelling packets’ at the Boys and Ladies Membership office for the young folks to reveal dwelling for their online sessions she teaches from her dwelling.

Sierra gets ready for her shift at Big Lots. Orange County, California. To be able to keep their apartment Sierra had to take on a job to supplement her mom’s income after her hours were cut due to the pandemic.

Sierra works the counter during her shift at Big Lots. Orange County, California.

High Sierra will get ready for her shift at Massive Plenty.
Bottom Sierra works the counter at some level of her shift at Massive Plenty.

Sierra graduated from high college in January 2020 with honors. In August 2020 she started attending at Fullerton College, a public community college in Fullerton, California, and plans to develop into a photographer or a teacher when she graduates.

Priscilla wants to search out a greater-paying job, but has health prerequisites that restrict her potential to complete so. Sierra peaceable works at Massive Plenty to wait on her mother have the funds for the rent. They’ve both managed to relief their jobs at some level of the pandemic, but multiple lockdowns have supposed work and pay were inconsistent. One month, they offered their old car to wait on pay for rent.

Sierra’s graduation cap and gown hangs in her room in Orange County, California. Sierra started high school in 2016 while homeless with her mom and faced daily challenges of finding food, shelter and staying clean to feel normal. — Photograph: Rachel Bujalski

Sierra hugs her mom before getting ready for bed in their apartment in Orange, County. — Photograph: Rachel Bujalski

High: Sierra’s graduation cap and costume hold in her room. Sierra started high college in 2016 whereas homeless alongside with her mother and faced each day challenges of discovering food, refuge and staying orderly to in actuality feel comparable old.
Bottom: Sierra hugs her mother sooner than making ready for bed in their dwelling.